Samaland
Samaland, officially the Empire of Samaland, (Sammese - Sama Heimve, Spanish - Imperio de la Sama) is a sovereign state in continental Mooremania, located to the west of northern Jacobopolus and Jermannia and east of the Tritonic Ocean. Samaland shares a land border with Jacobopolus, Jermannia, the American Republic and Ania, and a maritime border with the United States, Canada, Greenland and Iceland. Samaland has a total land area of 8,317,756 sq.km and a population of 238,699,451 people, narrowly surpassing Jacobopolus in total area while falling slightly short of it in population. The capital is Fransheliege while its largest city is Costarica. Samaland has three official languages: English, Spanish and Sammese; it also has several recognized minority indigenous languages, most notably including Chippewa, Steppi, Beochuk, Decot and Fiqwam. Samaland has a diverse climate, ranging from tropical weather in the southern regions of Sodsim, the Trophego Islands and the Santana Islands, to the temperate midlands of Minon, Black Forest and Fisheo, to the frigid north of Chippeo, Tiptree and Upper Sama. Originally inhabited by indigenous people descended from the Inuit of North America, the land surrounding the Sama River would come to be a cradle of civilization much like the middle-east. Expanding through trade and diplomacy utilizing Mooremania's complex river system, the Sama people built an empire greater and vaster than any in Eurasia from 4500 BCE to 1500 BCE. During the Bronze Age Collapse in 1100 BCE, however, it was also hit much harder, with no recovery being made until first contact with the Europeans. Nordic exiles from the island of Skania off the coast of modern day Denmark fled to the sea following the invasion of their homeland by the Saxons, the Angles and the Jutes in the mid-4th century during the Migration Period of Europe as the Roman Empire began to collapse. Drifting around at sea for a while, they eventually settled in northern Mooremania in 450 AD, establishing the city of Daenlaegen. After another hundred years of war with the Sama people who originally inhabited the land, a Skanian leader, Karl Murav, made peace with the Sama and founded the High Kingdom of Samaland. The Skanes eventually assimilated with the natives forming the unique mix between Nordic and Indigenous cultures. The European past became abstract to the Skanes and was nothing but a distant relic of the past. They were no longer "Skanian" but rather Sammese. Eventually worn down by invasion by the other indigenous tribes and infighting, the High Kingdom was fractured by the time modern Europeans arrived in 1431. First, the Italian navigator Francisco Costello flying under the Aragonese flag discovered the Santana Islands south of Mooremania and established the colony of Costello. Later, he and the Aragonese admiral Diego Rivera discovered the western coast of Mooremania and exchanged goods with Samaland in 1433, establishing the trading post of Costarica. Castile followed Aragon in its colonial pursuits establishing its own trading post in Alcazar, just outside the southernmost city of Samaland, Fransheliege, under the leadership of Samuel Francisco del Nuno. After a botched attempt by Samaland to rid themselves of the Castilian colonists, a war broke out leading to the Spanish capture of Fransheliege, thus allowing them to control trade within the Mooremanian Great Lakes. The Aragonese and Castilian colonies eventually merged in 1492 with the marriage of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella of Castile creating the Spanish Empire. The Mooremanian colonies would later become closely tied with their endeavors in the Americas. The third nation to carve out a piece of Mooremania for their Empire was England which established three colonies, one puritan colony called the Shovel Colony (in modern day Jermannia), a catholic (and later) royalist colony called Saint Audrey's Colony (in modern day Audrania), and a Jewish colony on the continent's east coast called Cohen's Coleny (which would later become the Republic of Cohen). Due to the light hand of English governance, the three colonies were left to manage their diplomatic endeavors on their own, and due to religious differences, Saint Audrey's Colony often sided with the Spanish in conflicts to curb the radical protestantism to their south. In 1716, Bourbon Spain seceded her Mooremanian colonies to Britain as part of the compromise, except for Costarica, which was placed under the governance of Samaland. Meanwhile, amongst European colonial squabbles, Samaland faced its own internal turmoil with anti-European sentiment leading to the unpopularity of King Robban III who often compromised with Britain and Spain at the expense of his people (at least in the Sammese peoples' eyes). This culminated in a revolution in 1637 and the establishment of a Republic. The Republican experiment was, however, short lived and military strongman seized power and became a dictator, eventually declaring himself "Emperor". He waged many successful wars against Britain and Spain throughout the mid-17th century but following his death, his Empire declined. Nonetheless, this turmoil led to the creation of the more powerful and centralized, yet also more democratic Empire of Samaland which emerged as a force to be reckoned with amongst the European powers. In 1810, the senile Emperor Christian XI was duped by Napoleon Bonaparte into lowering his guard leading to the French conquest of Samaland and the declaration of Jean Bonaparte (Napoleon's brother) as King of Samaland. Nonetheless, the Sammese restistance was strong and through guerilla tactics, they helped regain the continent and restore Christian XI. The reign of Christian XI's granddaughter, Margaret IV, saw Samaland ammend ties with Britain, engaging in trade and alliances with their formal rival. Nonetheless, despite friendly sentiments from the British parliament, the colonists in the South had a less favourable disposition. In Southern Mooremania in 1865, several colonial politicians decided to unite the several colonies into one nation ruled by the British Queen. The champion of this idea, Sir Christopher G. Ross was elected as Samaland's first Prime Minister and rapidly began expanding north, coming in conflict with Samaland, culmonating in the fall of the Empire of Samaland in 1910 and full domination of the continent by the British Dominion of Samaland.